Launch a token on Reef

Anyone can launch a token on Reef. There is no listing form and nobody to ask. You deploy the token yourself, create its first pool with BDAG, and lock the liquidity so buyers can see you can't pull it. This page walks through it, with NOCAP's contracts as a real example to compare against.

Before you start

• A wallet on the community chain 1404. RPC https://rpc.blockdag.engineering (or any node from the public RPC list), explorer explorer.blockdag.engineering. Two separate networks use chain ID 1404, so check your wallet's RPC before you sign anything.
• BDAG for gas, and for the BDAG side of your pool. Deploying and adding liquidity cost a little gas. The pool itself needs as much BDAG as you want to pair with your token.
• A plan for the numbers: total supply, how much goes into the pool, how much you keep (and whether you lock or vest that), and the starting price.

1. Deploy the token

Reef works with any standard ERC-20 token. The simplest honest token is a fixed supply minted once to you, with no owner and no way to mint more. Buyers can read that in the code instead of taking your word for it.

// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
pragma solidity ^0.8.20;

import "@openzeppelin/contracts/token/ERC20/ERC20.sol";

contract MyToken is ERC20 {
    constructor() ERC20("My Token", "MYT") {
        _mint(msg.sender, 1_000_000_000 * 10 ** decimals()); // fixed supply, minted once
    }
}

1. Open Remix, create a file, paste the contract and change the name, symbol and supply.
2. Compile it (Solidity 0.8.20 or later).
3. Under Deploy, choose Injected Provider so Remix uses your wallet. Check your wallet shows chain 1404 on the community RPC, then deploy and confirm.
4. Copy the new contract address from Remix or the explorer. This address is your token's identity: names and symbols can be copied by anyone, addresses can't.
5. If you can, verify the source on the explorer so anyone can read it.

2. Create the pool

On Reef, a pool is created the first time someone adds liquidity for a pair. That first deposit also sets the starting price.

1. Open Reef, connect your wallet and choose the Pool tab, then Add liquidity.
2. Pick BDAG on one side. On the other side, paste your token's address into the token search.
3. Reef shows "No pool exists yet for this pair". Enter both amounts. The ratio you enter is the starting price.
4. Approve your token (Reef asks for the exact amount, never unlimited), then confirm the add.
5. You receive LP tokens for your share of the pool. Keep them safe; step 3 locks them.

Working out the starting price

Price per token = BDAG deposited ÷ tokens deposited. For example, 25,000 BDAG with 1,000,000 tokens starts at 0.025 BDAG per token. If you put in too few tokens for the BDAG, the first traders buy the cheap side and you lose the difference, so double-check the ratio before you confirm.

3. Lock the liquidity

Whoever holds the LP tokens can withdraw the pool at any time. Locking them in a time-lock contract and publishing its address is the clearest way to show buyers you can't.

1. Deploy a simple time-lock that holds the LP token until a fixed date. NOCAP's lock is a short contract: it takes the LP token, a beneficiary and a duration of at least 6 months, and only lets the beneficiary withdraw after unlockTime. Anyone can read unlockTime() and timeRemaining() on the explorer.
2. Send your LP tokens to the lock contract.
3. Publish the lock address, the unlock date and the transaction, alongside your token address.
4. Point people to unlockTime() on the lock contract in the explorer, so they can check the date themselves instead of taking your word for it.

4. Tell people

• Post the token address, the pool and the lock address together, and ask people to check them on the explorer.
• Share a ready-made swap link. It opens Reef with your pair filled in and nothing sent until the buyer confirms: https://reefdex.fyi/?from=BDAG&to=YOUR_TOKEN_ADDRESS
• Say what your token is and isn't. Plain, honest wording ages better than promises.
• Never DM people first, and warn your community that anyone sending them a different address isn't you.

REEF airdrop, Tier 3

During the REEF airdrop window (Wed 7 Oct 09:00 to Fri 6 Nov 09:00, UTC+7), deploying your own token and creating its first Reef pair with at least 25,000 BDAG of your own liquidity counts as Tier 3, which is worth 10 shares. The action is credited to the wallet that signed it, and only BDAG pairs count.

Places go to the first 1,000 wallets by their first qualifying action, and the final list is worked out from on-chain events after 6 Nov. The airdrop check on Reef's main page shows which of a wallet's actions match the rules so far. See the full airdrop rules.

Example: NOCAP

NOCAP has the three pieces this guide describes: a token contract, a NOCAP/BDAG pool on Reef, and a time-lock contract holding the pool's LP tokens. Check each one yourself on the explorer.

On the lock contract, unlockTime() shows when the LP can be withdrawn and timeRemaining() shows how long is left.

Questions